Community Re-entry and Informal Social Control: The Path of Desistance from Offending

• In Event: Sex Offenders and Criminal Careers

Abstract

The risk-based model of correctional psychology emphasizes the importance of assessing and intervening on dynamic risk factors to reduce the risk of recidivism, such as the presence of antisocial peers. The life course approach, however, stresses the importance of turning points, such as the presence of prosocial influences that can facilitate community re-entry and re-integration. The current study revisits these two approaches in the context of the community re-entry of adult sex offenders. More specifically, using prospective longitudinal data from a sample of convicted sex offenders (n=164), the study examines the role and impact of the quality and quantity of the peer network on desistance using survival analyses. Upon community re-entry, results show that sex offenders have a limited peer network and that a negative social network is a significant barrier to desistance from offending, for all forms of recidivism irrespective of individual offender characteristics. Finally, at least in the short-term, results suggest that the presence of positive social influences is not sufficient to help an offender overcome life-long difficulties. Results are discussed in light of the scientific literature on community re-entry and life-course models.

Authors

• Vicky Brassard, Université Laval

• Patrick Lussier, Laval University